Blanchet



| BLANCHET Re. 25,442

BAR-CARRIED DETACHABLE ELECTRICAL TERMINAL BLOCKS Sept. 10, 1963 3Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Dec. 1. 195B INVENTOR v n Blane/let y 4444 ATTORNEYS Sept. 10, 1963 1.. BLANCHET R 25,442

BAR-CARRIED DETACHABLE ELECTRICAL TERMINAL BLOCKS Original Filed Dec. 1,1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR [ac/en 5/97204! @MWM ATTORNEYS HET Sept.10 963 BAR-CARRIED DETACHABLE ELECTRICAL TERMINAL BLOCKS s Sheet t 3Original Filed Dec. 1, 1958 e m W 1 r R NM w E VB M H m/m w w L w 0United States Patent Ofi Re. 25,442 Reissued Sept. 10, 1963 ice 25,442BAR-CARRIED DETACHABLE ELECTRICAL TERMINAL BLOCKS Lucien Blanchet,Colombes, France, assiguor to Joy Manufacturing Company, Pittsburgh,Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Original No. 2,983,897, dated May 9,1961, Ser. No. 777,328, Dec. 1, 1958. Application for reissue May 24,1962, Ser. No. 198,420

Claims priority, application France Dec. 11, 1957 18 Claims. (Cl.339-198) Matter enclosed in heavy brackets appears in the originalpatent but forms no part of this reissue specification; matter printedin italics indicates the additions made by reissue.

It is known that most of the bars adapted for the connection of electriccircuits consist of interchangeable terminal-carrier members locatedadjacent each other and interconnected, for example, by means ofthreaded rods extending through said terminal-carrier members, and nutsat the ends of said rods.

Electric insulation is generally provided between adjacent terminals soas to prevent any arcing therebetween.

Terminal bars of the aforementioned type have the drawback that when apresumed deficient or otherwise damaged terminal is to be replaced, allthe supports must be dismantled to release the support associated withthe deficient terminal, or at least, in case of improved assemblies, theterminal to be replaced must be unclamped from the adjacent terminals.

The aim of the applicant is to provide a terminalcarrier member capableof being secured on, or withdrawn from, the assembly means, withoutdisplacing the adjacent terminal-supports, the terminal-support beingprovided with a central terminal embodied by a screw, or if desired by anut, capable of cooperating with a nut in the former case or with ascrew in the latter case, the head of said screw or the said nut beingembedded in the plastic material forming the terminal-support, theassembly of both said members being also usable for securing on theterminal-carrier member a connecting metal contact within whichcable-end protecting sheaths may be locked by suitable means, wherebythe ends of various cables are interconnected by the low electricresistance mass of the metal contact. The width of the terminalcarricrmembers can in this case be increased, particularly in the case of metalcontacts including two or three cables inlets at each end thereof.

Provision has also been made by the applicant for multi-bored assemblydevices enabling the carrier-bars to be secured in various ways.

Finally, the protection cover members for all or a part of the terminalcarriers of a terminal bar are designed, in accordance with myinvention, so as to be mounted in place by a snapping engagementachieved by exerting a simple pressure on locking projections provided,as the case may be, on the terminal carriers or on insulating platesprovided between said carriers, the covermember being to that endsuitably recessed or grooved.

The terminal-carrier bar according to my invention is also characterizedin that the terminal carriers may be secured at will by a simplesnapping thereof, on assembly devices comprising at least onerail-shaped boss, or at least one groove to house such a boss, or onparallel assembly rods, connected by a pair of securing angleirons,enabling said assembly rods to be maintained in a suitably-spacedrelationship.

The terminal carrier bar according to my invention may be furthercharacterized in that it comprises terminal-supports provided withscrews supplied with holding grooves for locking washers, said supportshaving a notched portion permitting the labelling of the circultsconnected to various terminals, each cover-member being similarlynotched for a second labelling to be eifected thereon. I

Independently from the intermediate insulating plates enabling theterminal-carriers to be interspaced, when they are not provided withindividual covers, provided insulating end-plates are also providedwhich are adapted to insulate the end-terminals from the metalterminalclamping members.

The present invention has for its further object to provide animprovement in the embodiment of the metal member embedded in theplastic material forming the terminal-carriers. This improvementcomprise-s boring said metal member head all the way through, said headbeing adapted to be embedded in said plastic material, said boring beingpreferably carried out in a direction which will be parallel to thedevice-assembling rails.

The plastic material extending subsequently into said bore acts as a pinadapted to prevent the embedded member from turning in said plastic,when the end-terminals are subjected to a final clamping in a centralterminal type of unit, or, when the metal contacts are being tightenedin a contact-equipped type of unit.

It is important for this pin to be very short so as to avoid flexingstresses thereon. That is why it is advantageous to effect the boring ina parallel relationship to the assembling rails of the device, the moreso as the relatively thin layer of the plastic material on either sideof the embedded member would make it possible for the latter, shouldsaid captive member have an unbored head, owing to the very resiliencyof the material used, to be subjected to a rotary motion, such rotationbeing impossible since the plastic material, besides its acting as apin, also acts as a spacer member to keep an adequate spacing betweenthe two aforementioned thin plastic layers.

A further improvement being the object of the present invention, relatesto a braking device for the screw used as a central terminal or as asecuring member of a metal contact, in the case the said captiveembedded element is a nut. This improvement comprises providing in theplastic material, beneath the embedded nut, a smoothwalled cylindricalrecess, having a common axis with said nut and of a diametersubstantially equal to the minimum diameter of the threads in theinternally threaded bore of said nut, such that upon passing beyond thelower nut level, the clamping screw may act as a tapping or screwthreading member for the wall of the aforementioned cylindrical recess.

Other features of the present invention will become clear on reading thefollowing description, with reference to the accompanying drawings, ofseveral embodiments of terminal-carrier bars according to thisinvention. In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a terminal-carrier bar equipped withseveral terminals juxtaposed on a special assembly device provided withrails, one of the terminals being shown with its cover lifted;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of one of the terminal-clamping memberslocated at the ends of said bar;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the terminal-carrier of oneconnection element, having its cover lifted relative to the support andshown in section;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a terminal bar comprising connectionelements of the same type as in FIG. I, mounted on a device consistingof assembling rods interconnected by means of two angle-irons;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of theterminal carrier, including an elongated central locking projectionadapted to enable an individual cover of an intermediate spacer plate tobe secured thereon;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a terminal bar showing covers comprisingintermediate insulating plates end plates and lids protecting aplurality of the terminal-carriers of one bar;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the terminal-clamping member similar tothat of FIG. 2, wherein the clamping screw comprises at the base thereoftwo pressure washers, one of which is fanned;

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of a terminalcarrier having anindividual cover, mounted on the assembling rails of a terminal bar andadapted to receive a metal contact for the connection of two cablesthereto;

FIG. 9 is a horizontal sectional view of the terminalcarrier, taken atthe level of the embedded member halflength, showing the metal and theplastic portions, respectively;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a terminal-carrier bar including twocontact-supports of different types; and

FIG. 11 is a vertical sectional view of the metal contact securingdevice, showing a smoothwalled recess provided beneath an embedded nutand adapted to brake the screw.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there may be seen the channel member 1 whichserves as a support, having at the upper part thereof two flared outportions 2 forming guide rails. This assembling device has a pluralityof equidistant holes 3 bored therein, some of which can be seen inFIG. 1. At the symmetrically opposite part of the support, not shown inthe drawings, similar holes 3 symmetrical to the former are alsoprovided. The support 1 has also elongated holes or apertures 4 formedtherein along the medial axis thereof, the combination of all theseholes or apertures permitting various types of mountings.

There may be seen in the front part of FIG. 1 and at the left handthereof, a terminal-clamping member, better seen in FIG. 2, andconsisting of a cover-member 5 having at the lower portion thereof twobosses 6 slidable beneath the rails 2 of the assembling device. Theterminalclamping member also includes a stop-member 7 having its edgesapplied against the upper portion of the rails 2. The unit including thestop-member 7 and the cover 5 is connected together by a piece 8 housedin the stop 7 and made integral, by means of a pin 9, with a screw 10which may turn in a tapped hole 11 formed centrally in the cover 6. Theterminal-clamping members are locked at a predetermined point on theassembling device by turning screw 10, thereby drawing the members 5 and7 away from each other, thus wedging the bosses 6 against the lowerportion of the rails 2 of the assembling device. The terminal adjacentthe clamping member is shown with its cover 12 locked on the support.The next terminal is shown in an inclined relationship to the assemblingdevice, so as to show the bosses 13 which, by virtue of the resiliencyof the utilized material, enable the terminal-carriers to be secured tothe rails 2 of the device, by merely exerting pressure thereon. Thesesupports are moreover recessed as at 14, making possible a similarsnapping thereof onto [the] assembly rods 27, which can be seen in FIG.4. These recessed portions 14 are downwardly tapered for the wedging.therein of said rods. Advantageously, the supports include in thecentral part thereof a terminal leg, which may also be seen in FIG. 3and extends downwards to the same level as the lateral portions of thesupports. Said terminal leg is formed by a thickened portion of themoulded plastic material, inside of which there may be readily providedthe place for an embedded member, which may be a screw 24, or on thecontrary [contraryt], a nut, having, for example, screwed thereon ascrew supplied with holding grooves for locking washers. Such a device,known per se, comprises, as is well-known in the art and shown in FIGURE3, a threaded portion having an unthreaded groove located beneath it toreceive the locking washers therein, the latter being inserted byscrewing them on the threaded part of said screw, so that the washersupon the loosening of a connection, remain constantly [integral with]attached to the screw used to lock said connection.

The support portions which project laterally away from the recesses 14are shown at 16 and are formed with longitudinal grooves 17, into whichmay be inserted locating labels for the circuits. These outstandingportions 16 facilitate the releasing of said terminal supports fromrails 2, or from the assembling rods of the device shown in FIG. 4. Whenexamining the terminal support to the right of FIG. 1, there can be seenat the upper portion of said support the rounded recesses 18, throughwhich the cables to be connected to the screws 24 can be passed. Theprojections 19 provided in this particular embodiment on the support areused for the positioning and locking of the cover members 12, suitablyshaped recesses 20 being provided to this end in the covers which alsocarry cars 21 permitting the cover to be readily freed from said lockingprojections by virtue of the resilience of the material used. Recesses22 located under the cars 21 are connected to recesses 18 for thepassing of the cable, and notches 23 are provided for labeling covers12.

There can also be seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, the embedded screw 24, nut 25and washers 26.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the same members are seen with theexception of the device 1, which is in this case replaced by two rods27, which can, if desired, be formed of a suitable metal without beinginsulated, by reason of the insulating nature of the terminal supports.It is however common practice to coat these rods, which are threaded bya rolling technique and which are inexpensive, with a flexibleinsulating sheath, these insulated rods being engaged or housed withinthe recesses 14 provided in the supports, when the latter are pushedonto these rods.

The device shown in FIG. 4 also comprises a pair of locking angle irons28 providing recesses 29 to house therein nuts 30, so as to prevent anypart projecting inwards from the angle irons which would prevent thesupporting devices and the covers thereof from coming into engagementwith the lower portion of said angle irons 28. Further nuts 31 outsidesaid angle irons are adapted to lock said irons between the inner andouter nuts at a predetermined spacing relationship therebetween. Theangle irons comprise suitable holes as at 32, forming elongatedapertures which may be extended to the end of the horizontal anglemember, which is assumed to be in the position shown in FIG. 4.

As has already been said, rods 27 are wedged, when the support arepositioned, between bosses 13 and the outer portions 16.

In FIG. 5, both projections 19 in FIG. 1 have been replaced by acentrally arranged projection 19a and the shaped recesses 20 have beenreplaced by snap fingers 20a.

In FIG. 6 are shown segmental covers comprising lids 33, end-plates 34and intermediate plates 35 and 36. Plates 35 and 36 are provided withsnap fingers 20a exactly identical to those of the individual covers inFIG. 5, thus enabling the terminal supports to be secured on theprojections 19a of the terminal supports. Plates 35 are not providedwith projections since, as may be seen to the right hand of this FIG. 5,they are merely acting as partitions between two adjacent terminalsupports, these plates being moreover of a smaller size than plates 36,since the latter form an end-closure for the segmental covers, whileplates 35 have to be housed in the free gap managed between adjacentterminal supports after the positioning of the unitary or segmentallids.

In order to provide for means for attaching said segmental covers,plates 36 carry on both faces thereof projections 37 enabling lids 33 tobe secured thereon by a snapping action.

Plates 34 are also provided with projections 38 identical to projections37. During the mounting of the device, plates 34 are disposed with theirprojections directed towards the middle portion of the terminal carrierbar,

when the end-plates 34 are used in combination with unitary lids, notshown in FIG. 6, and continually extending throughout the length of theterminal carrier bar between both end plates 34. The same is true forthe embodiment in FIG. 6, wherein segmental lids 33 are used and aresnapped respectively either on the projections carried by the end-plates34 or on those of the partition plates 36.

Conversely, it is sometimes advantageous to use endplates, even whenindividual lids are utilized, thus improving the insulation relative tothe terminal clamping members. In this latter case, the plates 34 arearranged with their projections directed outwardly, so as not tointerfere with the positioning of the individual covers of the outermostterminal-carriers.

It may also be seen in FIG. 6 that plates 34 are snapped onto the rails2 of the assembling devices and comprise to this end snapping fingers13a comparable to those provided on the terminal-carriers.

Lids 33, as well as the unitary lids, provide for the protection of awhole terminal carrier-bar and they are produced by extrusion, beingadvantageously grooved as at 39 for the labeling of the lid, which maybe made of transparent material for this purpose, and provided withtangs 40, which can be snapped on the projections 37 and 38 of theplates 34 or 36.

The fanned washer 41 and the fiat washer 42 are shown in FIG. 7, theyprevent any loosening of the screw 10 due to vibrations and,consequently, any displacement of the cover and of the member 7 relativeto the rails 2.

The carrier 43 for the metal contact 47, shown in FIG. 8, differs onlyfrom the terminal-carrier in FIG. 1, by the reduced thickness of theplastic material used thereon, and by a correlative decrease of thediameters of said recesses owing to the fact that they are adapted tohouse cables not provided with a bored end terminal but cables simplyend-protected by a copper sheathing. This copper sheath is then insertedinto bores 45 provided in the metal contact, tapped holes 46 enablingthese sheaths to be immobilized by means of suitably shaped screws.

The contact 47, which can be seen in FIG. 8, is recessed at 48 to housethe locking nut 25a adapted to tighten the contact on the screw 24a. Thetwo front faces of the contact 47, one of which can be seen in FIG. 8and is indicated by the numeral 49, engage upon being mounted the twoinner faces of two salient portions 50 carrying the projections 19b. Oneof said inner faces 51 corresponding to the front face of the contactopposite to the face 49, can also be seen in FIG. 8.

Owing to the length of the metal contact, the thickness of the salientportions 50 is smaller than in the embodiment of FIG. 1, projections19b, and the recesses 2% formed in the individual cover are then spacedto a greater extent than in FIG. I. The cover can also include snappingfingers 20a, as does the cover in FIG. 5, said fingers cooperating witha centrally located projection 19a of the terminal carrier.

Cable-inlet recesses 52 are likewise of the same diameter as therecesses 44, i.e. a smaller diameter than that of recesses 22 of theembodiment shown in FIG. 1.

It can be seen in FIGS. 8 and 9 that the screw 24a, having itssubstantially cylindrical head embedded in the plastic material formingthe support of the contact 43, comprises two fiats slightly reducing itsoverall size lengthwise of the terminal carrier bar, leaving on eitherside of the embedded screw an adequate insulating layer.

A bore 53 is provided lengthwise of the terminal carrier bar for theearlier stated reasons, i.e. to prevent a resilient deformation of theportions 5 4, seen in FIG. 9 and interconnected by a small cylindricalpin 55 made of plastic engaged into the bore 53 of the embedded pin 56and forming the head of the screw 24a.

In the embodiment of FIG. 10, the metal contact carriers are adapted tobe used in conjunction with a unitary lid 33 of a type similar to thatof FIG. 6. There may 6 also be seen in this FIG. 10, an intermediateplate 57 snapping onto the assembling rails 2 in the same manner as theend-plates 34 in FIG. 6. This plate 57 comprises four projections 37similar to those provided on the intermediate plates 36in FIG. 6, andused to insure snapping of the lid 33 onto said rails.

The metal contact carriers 58 and 59 are of a different type from thatof the carrier 43, although the metal contacts employed are of a similardesign, since the covers 33 would not have provided an adequate lateralprotection in respect to the insulation thereof, if they were used inconjunction with supports of the type of the support 43 in FIG. 8. Thesupport or carrier visible on the lefthand side of this figure has ateither end thereof projecting portions 60 of the same height as thefaces 49 of the contacts, so as to provide an insulation all around thecable which extends first through the horizontal bore 61 provided in thesupport 58, before extending into the bore 45 of the metal contactmember.

The contact carrier 59 is of a different type, having lengthwise of theterminal carrier bar a greater thickness, two adjacent cables to beconnected on either side of the contact support. These cables extendthrough the bores 62 of the terminal carrier and to the metal contact,which also has two adjacent bores (not shown), a single tightening screw63a being provided at each end of the metal contact to simultaneouslyeffect the tightening or clamping of both cables extending throughadjacent bores of the metal contact.

Moreover, the support 59 has been devised with the contact 64a beingsecured by means of a screw 65 cooperating with a nut 66 embedded in thesupporting plastic material.

It will be noted that it is advantageous in this type of installation toprovide in the plastic material, beneath the lower level of the nut 66,a cylindrical smooth-walled recess 67 seen in FIG. 11. This cylindricalrecess is of a diameter substantially equal to the thread bottom or rootdiameter of the screw 65 cooperating with the nut 66, said recess havinga common axis with said nut. A braking action on the screw is thusprovided from the moment it gets beyond the lower level of said nut.

The tapping section thus achieved in the plastic material by virtue ofthe advancement of the screw 65 therethrough has been shown in brokenlines at 68.

Once the lids 33 have been snapped onto the projections 37, they extendto the upper portion of the terminalsupports, this preventing any riskof an untimely extraneous contact with any of the contact members.

The insulation between the various cables is, on the other hand,provided by means of the plates 35a located between adjacent contactsand differing from plates 35 of FIGURE 6 only in that their snappingengagement, which can be seen in FIG. 10, is efiected on the assemblingrails rather than on a central projection of the terminal carrier,exactly like the snapping of the plate 57.

It is to be noted that the respective locations of said projections andthe snapping fingers and tongues can be modified, with the possibilityof reversing the respective positions of the two cooperating snappingelements.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various alterations,improvements and additions can be made in the described embodiments,namely by the substitution of equivalent means, without falling outsidethe scope and the spirit of this invention, as defined in the appendedclaims.

What I claim is:

1. A terminal-carrier bar for the connection of electric cablescomprising an elongated support member made of rigid material, at leastone terminal support member extending transversely thereacross and madeof a comparatively resilient insulating material, the adjacent surfacesof said elongated and terminal support members being formed intoelongated interfitting snap attaching means, one of which may be snappedinto the other when the material of said terminal support yields underpressure, the attaching means on said elongated support member extendinglongitudinally thereof and the attaching means on said terminal supportmember extending transversely of said terminal support member, at leastone metal terminal on each terminal support member, the lower portion ofwhich is embedded in said insulating material, and cover means ofresilient insulating material, said cover means being formed withintegral snap attaching means mating with interfitting snap attachingmeans on the assembly comprising said support members, said snapattaching means being separable by deformation in a direction transverseto the longitudinal axis of said elongated support member and the sidesof said terminal support members being free of any other attachingmeans.

2. A terminal-carrier bar as defined in claim 1, Wherein the lowerportion of the metal terminal which is embedded in the insulatingmaterial forming the terminal supports, is bored through in a directionparallel to the assembling rails or rods of said bar, the thus obtainedbore being filled with insulating material.

3. A terminal-carrier bar as defined in claim 1, wherein the centralmetal terminal consists of a nut embedded in said insulating material,the upper face of which is at the same level that the upper face of theterminal-support, and a screw adapted to cooperate with said nut, and inwhich a smooth-walled cylindrical recess, having a common axis with saidnut and a diameter substantially equal to the diameter of the bottom orroot of the thread of the screw cooperating with said nut, is providedin the insulating material forming the terminal support beneath saidnut.

4. A terminal-carrier bar as defined in claim 1, wherein at least one ofthe terminal supports carries a metal contact member fitted into arecess in said terminal support and in electrical contact with saidterminal, said metal contact member being adapted to be used with acableconnection employing screw-locking means.

5. A terminal-carrier bar as defined in claim 1, wherein theterminal-supports are provided with at least two locking projectionsadapted to cooperate by snapping with at least two recesses provided insaid cover means.

6. A terminal-carrier bar as defined in claim 5, wherein said covermeans comprise individual cover-members which have projecting portionsfacilitating their position ing or withdrawal, and include cable-inletrecesses of a semi-circular section, registering with symmetricallydisposed recesses of the terminal-supports.

7. A terminal-carrier bar as defined in claim 1, wherein said covermeans further comprises: intermediate insulating plates between adjacentterminal-supports, molded of the same insulating material as theterminal-supports; metal clamping members on the ends of said elongated[suport] support member, end-plates between outermost terminal-supportsand said metal terminal-clamping members, also molded of the sameinsulating material as the terminal-supports and adapted to cooperate bysnapping with said elongated support member, said intermediate andend-plates being provided with locking projections; and shaped lids forthe protection of the whole or a part of the terminal-supports on saidbar, including longitudinal tongues adapted to cooperate by snappingwith said locking projections on the end-plates and on some of theintermediate plates, the lower portion of said lids registenng with theupper portion of the terminal-supports, thus providing a complete outerinsulation for the central terminal and of bared cable portions.

8. A terminal-carrier bar as defined in claim 7, wherein said terminalsupport members carry additional snap attaching means and saidintermediate insulating plates are shaped to interfit therewith bysnapping.

9. A terminal-carrier bar as defined in claim 7, wherein saidintermediate insulating plates are shaped to cooperate by snapping withsaid elongated support member.

10. A terminal-carrier bar as defined in claim 1, wherein at least oneterminal consists of a screw supplied with a holding groove for lockingwashers, said screw cooperating with a. nut embedded in the insulatingmaterial forming the terminal-support.

11. A terminal carrier bar as claimed in claim 1 in which said elongatedsupport member is channel shaped and said inter litting snap attachingmeans are formed on the edges of the side walls thereof.

12. A terminal carrier as claimed in claim 1 in which [saidinterfitting] the snap attaching means which mate with those on saidcover means are positioned on the sides of said terminal support member.

13. A terminal carrier bar for the connection of electrical conductorscomprising an elongated rigid support having a pair of parallellaterally spaced abutments extending longitudinally thereof, at leastone elongated terminal support made of a comparatively resilient plasticinsulating material extending transversely across said rigid support,each terminal support comprising a body portion, at least one metallicterminal supported thereby, and a pair of spaced resilient abutments inthe form of legs projecting in the same direction therefrom andextending transversely with respect thereto, one of said pairs of spacedabutments being dimensioned to be resiliently retained between the otherpair of spaced abutments and forming therewith interfittingsnap-attaching means for attaching said terminal support to saidelongated rigid support.

14. A terminal carrier bar as claimed in claim 13 in which said otherpair of spaced abutments are the abutments of said terminal support.

15. A terminal carrier bar as claimed in claim 13, in which said snapattaching means permit said terminal support to slide along saidelongated rigid support when attached thereto.

16. A terminal carrier bar as claimed in claim 13 in which one end ofsaid terminal is embedded in and locked against rotation with respect tosaid terminal support member.

17. A terminal carrier bar for the connecting of electrical conductorscomprising an elongated support member made of a rigid material, aplurality of terminal support members made of a resilient plasticinsulating material mounted side by side on said elongated supportmember and extending transversely thereacross, said terminal supportmembers being individually slidable with respect to one another in adirection transverse with respect to said elongated support so thatindividual terminal supports may be individually unsnapped from saidlongitudinal support may be individually adjacent terminal supports,said elongated and terminal support mem bers having adjacent surfacesformed into interfitting snap attaching means such that when thematerial of said terminal support yields under pressure said terminalsupport member snaps onto said elongated support member and electricalterminals carried by said terminal supports respectively.

18. A terminal carrier bar as claimed in claim 17, in which saidterminal support members are longitudinally slidable on said elongatedsupport.

References Cited in the file of this patent or the original patentUNITED STATES PATENTS 1,926,927 Woertz Sept. 12, 1933 1,936,963 DutzmannNov. 28, 1933 2,683,506 lmmel et al 11113 13, 1954 2,780,791 MorschelFeb. 5, 1957 2,830,281 Robb Apr. 8, 1958 2,892,176 Gordon June 23, 1959FOREIGN PATENTS 554,853 Italy Jan. 16, 1957 716,623 Germany Jan. 24,1942 1,039,430 France May 13, 1953

